rattylight t1_jea01ql wrote on March 30, 2023 at 2:30 PM

Thanks- this has always been a bit confusing to me. I'm not exactly sure why there needs to be a law to stop for people in a crosswalk. If you don't stop when someone is already in the crosswalk, wouldn't you kill them? Which is already against the law. So then that leads me to assume that this law means to stop for people who are about to enter the crosswalk.

Before I get downvoted, I'm just trying to understand the purpose of the law.

ExtremeHobo t1_jea0cgg wrote on March 30, 2023 at 2:32 PM

You have to stop if someone is in the crosswalk and not directly in front of you.

For example in Carytown if someone is crossing and in the left lane but you are in the right you can't just wizz by them, you need to stop even though you won't hit them.

EmergencyYoung OP t1_jea2wrc wrote on March 30, 2023 at 2:51 PM

Right, if they are IN the crosswalk, all lanes have to stop, and passing the stopped vehicle is illegal

Cactuscouch757 t1_jea68ar wrote on March 30, 2023 at 3:15 PM

At almost every pedestrian crossing in Richmond you have to be IN the crosswalk(toe over the curb at minimum, but typically a parking space width) just to see traffic around parked cars. Cars should be stopping more often.

rockerchyc t1_jeb2pfm wrote on March 30, 2023 at 6:44 PM

You do not know how many times I could not see a car approaching because of the cars that are parked on the side of the street. I live off of Cary, so I walk or sometimes scoot to classes considering how conveniently close everything is. The worst thing about living in the city without a car is definitely having to worry about the cars as a pedestrian/scooter.

FilthDropz t1_jea0kjd wrote on March 30, 2023 at 2:33 PM

The way I understand it is that it legally establishes right of way to assign fault to the driver in case of an accident.

EmergencyYoung OP t1_jea30r4 wrote on March 30, 2023 at 2:51 PM

It also stipulates that a pedestrian can't ignore traffic, interestingly.